Patient gowns are known in the art. Patient gowns are typically worn by patients in a medical-services environment such as an inpatient or outpatient facility. Patient gowns often include sleeves for the patient's arms with the remaining fabric encircling the patient's body. In many cases the gown includes ties, snaps, or the like in order to permit the gown to be at least somewhat closed on the patient's backside.
Generally speaking, patient gowns serve more to preserve a patient's modesty than to warm the patient. In many cases this design preference yields a satisfactory result. In other application settings, however, maintaining the patient's warmth is important and a typical patient gown's insufficiency to much contribute in these regards causes medical service providers to resort to additional warming approaches.
For example, patient-support pads are available that provide supplemental heat to the patient's body when the patient lies atop the pad. As another example, patient gowns are available that include an inflatable bladder. This inflatable bladder has a plurality of small orifices formed therethrough. Upon inflating the inflatable bladder with warm air, the warm air eventually slowly escapes through the small orifices to help heat the patient while they wear the gown.
These prior art approaches to providing supplemental heat are not without issue and concern. Patient gowns that include an inflatable bladder, for instance, tend to be relatively costly. Bladders can also present a wider range of variances with respect to how much air passes through the bladder at any given area. Those variances, in turn, can present challenges with respect to achieving a relatively even heating effect. Also, inflatable bladders present laundering challenges that may conflict with procedures at some facilities.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present teachings. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present teachings. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.